The tariff quota allowing 140,000 tonnes of chicken meat to be imported into Russia duty-free this year sends a negative signal to the industry, and the measure is not proving effective, Sergei Lakhtyukhov, Director General of the National Union of Poultry Producers, said on Wednesday at the ‘Agroinvestor: PRO Livestock and Feed’ conference organized by Agroinvestor magazine.
‘We are making the same mistake again. This measure is in no way proving effective at present. Let us hope that our industry will no longer receive these negative signals,’ he said.
He said the proposal to introduce the quota ‘came from a number of meat processors who provided less than accurate data to support it.’ He recalled that pig farmers had faced a proposal to introduce a duty-free pork import quota several years ago. Ultimately, only 15,000 tonnes were imported out of the planned 100,000 tonnes.
‘The situation is very similar with the chicken quota. Although meat processors were specifically granted the right to import duty-free meat, only 7,600 tonnes of the 140,000 tonnes have been taken up to date,’ Lakhtyukhov said. ‘Moreover, this volume was taken up by businesses in the Kaliningrad Region that imported nothing additional and simply used the measure in the course of their normal operations.’
According to the Agriculture Ministry, applications for duty-free chicken imports totalled 484.2 tonnes as of 10 April.
The decision to introduce a duty-free chicken meat import quota followed a sharp rise in chicken prices at the end of last year. The measure aims to increase the supply of chicken meat on the market and stabilize its price. The imported meat is intended for food production.
Source: finmarket.ru
22 April 2024